Our Global Veterans with Sara Troy and her guest Dan Blakeley, on air from November 23rd
THE TWENTY-YEAR WAR Dan Blakeley, served in 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, deploying six times in support of the Global War on Terror. This Breathtaking, Personal and Raw. The Twenty-Year War photo book is an eye-opening insight into the lives of 71 incredible veterans of the Global War on Terror.
Diving into the experience of American service members fighting in a conflict that has spanned two decades, The Twenty-Year War explores the challenge veterans face reintegrating into a society where less than 1 percent of the American populace has served in the conflict.
The veterans featured in The Twenty-Year War open up about their call to service, the sobering reality of combat, their transition post-military, and what it’s like to find their mission again — in life.
This book shares stories not often told, including stories of fathers and sons, sisters, brothers, and husbands and wives who served together. The Twenty-Year War is a triumph of the American veteran’s spirit and determination.
Dan Blakeley served in 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, deploying six times in support of the Global War on Terror. He graduated from Appalachian State University with his bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees. He started the school’s solar-powered racing team that designed and built two solar-powered race cars, competing in five international races. Dan’s transition from military to civilian was not easy. Over the years he has seen firsthand a trend in the veteran community which paralleled his own experiences. “It’s a lack of understanding the skills veterans bring to the table, our proven leadership, our commitment to teammates, our unwavering desire to increase potential and be our best,” Dan said recently. Dan’s passion for veteran success and telling their stories was the inspiration for his first book, The Twenty-Year War. Dan is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of United Valor, a company focused on telling the untold stories of war through all media formats.
ECO Solutions with Sara Troy and her guest Stephanie Miller, on air from November 22nd
Five “Key” tips towards keeping the amount of waste down during Thanksgiving What is the 80-20 rule to avoid plastic and food waste? What are easy and affordable things we can all do now to help our planet? How can we recycle better? How do festivities like Thanksgiving offer us the opportunity to deal with food waste?
Having spent my career looking for solutions to climate challenges at a macro level, I began to question what could be done at the individual level. I wondered how I could have more of an impact, or perhaps less of an impact (!) by reducing my personal carbon and waste footprint. The questions I began to look at were: What can we– as individuals– do to reverse the current climate and waste crises? Could individual actions have a ripple effect that could lead to systemic change? If so, how could busy people make the necessary changes?
This led to my own personal experiment to see how I could create a zero waste lifestyle. I researched exhaustively, talked with prominent waste and plastics specialists, visited recycling facilities in my region, presented ideas and recommendations in my local community, and began advising others on how they could implement simple but important changes.
What I concluded from my research and my engagement in the community is that you don’t have to do everything under the sun to make a huge difference. My journey led me to the simplicity of the 80/20 rule. By focusing on those things (the 20%) that can make the biggest (80%) difference, every individual can make a real and sustainable impact. And I’m convinced that, collectively—through our daily actions and consumer choices—we can create cleaner air, cleaner oceans and mitigate climate change.
Stephanie believes we all can make a few relatively easy lifestyle changes and create a significant positive impact by using the simplicity of the 80/20 rule, which she follows personally. She has done a lot of research to understand what actions would make the most significant difference and be easy to incorporate into a busy lifestyle and settled on three areas that she calls the Magic Three: food, plastics, and recycling. Stephanie tries to help busy people get to 80% zero waste with minimal effort through her book.
All of our shows/interviews are done by donation, if you enjoyed this show please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support, thank you. and please support Our Forgotten Children’s anthology and help to bring this book into production.
Ignite your heart and soul with Sara Troy and her guest Dr Ivan Figuero Otero, on air from November 23rd
Medical acupuncturist, Iván Figueroa Otero, MD. Dr. Figuero Otero will talk about his fourth book in the “School of Life” series, Reflections in My Magical Mirror (Spirituality 104), which encourages readers to remember that every difficult experience is a lesson of love. He will share with our listeners the importance of emotional and spiritual well-being and its role in preventive and therapeutic medicine. “The fourth book is an extraordinary guide that every person can use at any stage of their spiritual journey.”— Los Angeles Post Examiner As a physician and retired pediatric surgeon, how did he relate to spirituality? Why is it important to attend to spirituality in medicine? What is the “magical mirror” & does everyone have one? How can we harness it? The book is filled with relatable life lessons to learn from written from Ivan’s experiences. How he heals his patient’s practice today in Puerto Rico. Suggestions people do every day? Ivan’s other books in this series and how can readers work with them?
Iván Figueroa Otero M.D. FACS, FAAMA After graduating from the School of Medicine of the University of PR in 1970, Dr. Figueroa Otero trained as General Surgeon at the University Hospital of the UPR School of Medicine, integrating a one-year fellowship in the study of cancer, and one year in experimental research. He did his postgraduate studies in Pediatric Surgery at Miami Children’s Hospital and the San Juan Municipal Hospital. Looking for non-surgical or less invasive options for pediatric conditions, Dr. Figueroa Otero explored Eastern philosophies that emphasize a holistic concept of disease. He was one of the first physicians to become certified in medical acupuncture in Puerto Rico, training in traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture with professors from the University of Seville. Eventually, he was certified in medical acupuncture nationally.
In 2009, Dr. Figueroa Otero became certified in anti-aging medicine, and in December of that year, he retired from the practice of pediatric surgery, focusing instead on his holistic medical practice and emphasizing disease prevention and modification of lifestyles. In 2011, he was invited to become a Trustee of the American Board of Medical Acupuncture, which is the national body organization responsible for certifying physicians in the field of acupuncture through national exams. In that same year, he was recognized by Natural Awakenings magazine as Holistic Physician of the Year. Dr. Figueroa Otero is currently engaged in his private practice and continues in his role as an educator, trying to achieve full integration of traditional Chinese acupuncture courses in the curriculum of medical schools, promoting that physicians to be certified both locally and nationally and to establish clinical research protocols on the use of acupuncture in known conditions compared to the methodology established by modern medicine. Another immediate priority is to incorporate meditation techniques and their role in preventive and therapeutic medicine.
A few holistic case examples How treating an IRS agent as a friend disappeared the IRS debt From my client SF: I am a counselor. In 2002, I had a beautiful and profound outcome with an IRS tax issue, based on an “enlightened” approach suggested to me by my friend and Holistic Attorney Duane Light. When I first spoke to Duane, I was afraid of the IRS and what they might do to in response to my outstanding IRS debt. I didn’t know what to do and was especially afraid of calling them. I called Duane, and he gave me guidance to approach the IRS agents with an open heart, honesty and compassion. He suggested that I “treat the agent as a friend in the making.” He told me that the average job turnover in the IRS is 9 months, and that many of these individuals are struggling with their work and rarely get to experience compassion and care from someone on the other end of the phone line. After meditating and praying until I became calm, and when I sincerely felt that I could care for the person on the other end of the line, I made the call. My heart was open toward the IRS agent, and I know he felt that. I was able to be friendly, direct and truthful about my financial situation. Amazingly, the agent reclassified my debts as uncollectible! I continued to stay in contact with them over the years, and all my dealings with the IRS since that time have been completely benign and full of good will. The work that Duane did with me has changed the nature of my relationships with people in positions of authority that used to intimidate me, such as the IRS and insurance adjustors. It’s just completely revolutionized the reactions and the results that I get from those people, in an atmosphere of fellowship with them. It didn’t just change a skill set, it changed a mindset for me and opened my heart to people that I had been afraid of. I have made reference to the benefits of the principals I learned from Duane to people often since that time. So the benefits have continued to ripple out and help others. The principals upon which his work is based are so solid and grounded in essential truths that I feel there’s been no diluting of their potency over the years.
How a client was able to come to peace while administering an estate and dealing with a combative relative Kim’s dear brother died, and she was tasked with administering the estate, including taking care of his ashes after the cremation. Kim is a very kind person.
Her nephew (her brother’s son) was having a very troubled time in his life, involving drugs and a lot of anger. He and his dad’s wife started to cause problems. They fought release of the ashes to Kim, even though she was going to fulfill her brother’s wishes. In Kim and my discussions, we decided to split the ashes. The son also created problems around the accounting, asking for every receipt and charge. Estates are rarely perfectly managed, and this put Kim through many hours of pretty useless work – the amounts were so small. And then there were the yelling and blaming phone conversations, that Kim finally had to stop allowing. Kim and I worked on how to communicate with him, mostly by emails. We talked about her love for him, in his core as a good person, and how helpful it would be for her peace of mind to forgive him, and release any further desire to change him. This took some time, but Kim eventually came to more peace with the situation. She continued to love her nephew, and also create healthy separation so she would not be emotionally and mentally abused by him. In doing this kind of inner work for ourselves, we can’t expect that others will always change. We hope for that, but this holistic approach is first and foremost about our finding our peace of mind, our strong center, and moving forward as effectively as we can from there. Kim wrote the following to me, near the end of the process: “Duane, at times it has been difficult for me to maintain a balanced, loving stance in this situation rather than attempting to make things “right.” I feel a sense of peace to know that you are involved.”
How a painful case settled on the day of trial, because of one sincere, kind statement I was approached by a woman who was in the midst of a law case against a former frien and business partner. Ms. W’s current attorney was the high-stress type. This attorney was handling the case in an anxiety-laden way, and this added to Ms. W’s stress. (It’s not a good sign when your own attorney increases your anxiety!). The former best friends had decided to work together on a property development project, with the friend investing several hundred thousand dollars. Due in part to bad management on my client’s part, and also the real estate crash of 2007, the project failed. Each person angrily blamed the other, and the lawsuit started. By the time I came into the case, trial was only a few weeks away. I dove into five boxes of documents and prepared all necessary trial pleadings. As I was reading, I saw that the defendant, Ms. W’s former friend, was a nurse and had created a nonprofit to bring health services to the poor. I wrote the defendant’s lawyer an email the day before trial, saying that I saw that his client was doing very good work in the world, and that it would be nice if the case could settle so she could get back to her wonderful service. This was completely sincere on my part (these statements need to be sincere – this is not a “technique”). Trial was to start the next morning at 9 a.m.. I arrived with my client and we set up on our side. The former friend, now defendant, then walked across the courtroom to speak with me. This is exceeding rare! She told me that she felt that I was an honorable man, and because I was there she was willing to discuss settlement! The judge gave us time to talk, and the case settled within an hour. Later, this defendant contacted me about some details for wrapping up the case. She thanked me again for my approach to the case that helped it resolve peacefully. This is one of many, many examples where some simple recognizing of the Other, and sincere, kind communication, softens the conflict and creates the opportunity for resolution.
5 Essential Skills to Resolve Any Legal Issue How to Powerfully Navigate Your Legal Challenges with Calm, Clarity and Kindness Duane Light, JD
Offerings for Further Support Personal Coaching from me? Rarely is a legal problem purely legal. Almost all disputes involve emotional and interpersonal dynamics. If you are in a middle of a difficult legal situation, I currently have space for five more clients.
To sign up for a free 45 minute Empowerment over Your Case phone or zoom call, where we will explore whether it would be beneficial for you to work with me, click this link: https://www.peaceinthelaw.com/coaching Weekly Holistic Legal Coaching online
Sara’s View Of Life with Sara Troy, on air from November 16th
Does a place matter? Should we find our self-discovery ourselves from within and not care about our environment? A good vibrational space matters to me, a place that exudes tranquility and deep peace, allows me to find it within myself.
I believe that a place that has good vibrations helps us go within and see our selves more deeply. I live on Vancouver Island where the vibrations are so warm and inviting. Here I have found a peace that makes me feel open and tranquil and embracive of all that is possible.
Are you living in a place that welcomes you and makes you feel free and grounded? Is it a place that allows you to grow and become yourself? ARE YOU LIVING IN GOOD VIBRATIONS?
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